Saying nothing of
whether or not the year is
a new one at all,
what falls, and falls, are the tears
of one who has grown old here

Meaning

Taking no notice of whether the year is new, what goes on falling are the tears of one grown old.

Commentary

Part One: Aoi

　Omiya answered Genji's poem with this one. The year may turn, she says, but the tears run on unchanged: a mother's grief for a daughter is not healed by the passing of time. The chapter closes on this poem and the tale moves on to Sakaki. Genji's tie to the Minister's house continues through the child, but the story of these two women reaches a pause here.

　"Furu" takes his own word and holds together the falling of tears and the growing old of years. "One grown old" is herself. Using the same word twice in different senses, she picks out, against the renewal of the year, only what does not change. Set in a scene of New Year congratulation, the poem contains not one word of celebration.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Saying nothing of whether or not the year is a new one at all, what falls, and falls, are the tears of one who has grown old here

Saying nothing of
whether or not the year is
a new one at all,
what falls, and falls, are the tears
of one who has grown old here